Opening the Cage
by Kiba Sniper
Summary: Ikusaba loses the fight to Pekoyama and curses herself under the pouring rain. As she plans her next move, Pekoyama offers a different solution, one which she changes her outlook on Enoshima. Pekoyama/Ikusaba.


Based on the prompt: "Stop doing this to yourself."

Opening the Cage

The gravel cut her chin as she slammed into the ground. Ikusaba sucked down a sharp breath, her knife scattering too many yards away for her to simply grab. She pushed off on her knees only to wince as cold metal pressed against the side of her neck, icy bullets of rain spearing against her back as she understood what had happened.

Pekoyama must have gotten lucky. To use the hilt of her sword to jab right into her ribs and then uppercut her was something Ikusaba hadn't expected. She had only been using her sword to strike her with an unknown intention burning in those scarlet eyes which never left Ikusaba.

"Stand down," Pekoyama ordered, "or you'll force my hand."

A bitter cackle echoed in the back of Ikusaba's throat. "How cute. You really think you can-"

She twisted the sword, and Ikusaba grimaced as metal met flesh. It cut ever so slightly, a pinprick of pain jolting in her neck. Ikusaba grit down on her teeth as voices roared over the rolling thunder and the rioting reserve students in the distance.

"Contact Komaeda, and tell him that I've stopped Ikusaba," Pekoyama said as Kuzuryuu and Souda ran over to them, the former with a particularly relieved expression. "She's with Enoshima. Komaeda warned me about her before we set out to search for Tsumiki."

"She-she is? What the hell?" Souda blurted, his pink eyes widening.

"How th' fuck did he know? He wasn't in school when this chick arrived, right? That guy-" Kuzuryuu shook his head. "Ah, forget it. We can get some info outta him later. Good work, Pekoyama."

Despair twisted in Ikusaba's chest, and it should have made her happy. Her sister's plan was going south faster than she could have ever anticipated. She thought Enoshima's plan was fool proof especially with her analytical prowess and control she had over certain members of the student body and staff.

But there she was with a sword to her neck. As Souda and Kuzuryuu took out their phones, assumedly texting other members of their class, she plotted. Ducking to the side and launching forward on her knees, shooting a kick at Pekoyama's chest, taking out one of the grenades she kept in her vest pocket and activating them for a suicide bombing, a plethora of ideas waged war in her mind.

"Stop doing this to yourself."

She shuddered and assumed it was from the frigid sword. Ikusaba raised her gaze and willed herself to glance over her shoulder.

Sympathy warmed Pekoyama's eyes. Her grip remained firm, but her expression softened. As rain slipped down her cheeks and dampened her hair, she tilted her head.

"You're working with Enoshima. That much is certain, but you should know this is wrong," Pekoyama said, Souda shifting uneasily from side to side. She crouched and kept the blade still by Ikusaba's neck, adding, "Look at me."

She scoffed, her nose wrinkling in a fashion which would have reminded anyone in her class of Enoshima.

"Look at me," Pekoyama ordered, her voice matching the pristine steel of her blade.

Something compelled her to obey. Whether it was the way her eyes narrowed or the power leveling in her tone, Ikusaba almost flinched. She felt like she was back in the battlefield staring up at her Fenrir commander.

Pekoyama reached out and touched her shoulder. "Is this how you want to live your life?"

"What do you mean?" Ikusaba snarled, her fingers digging into her palms.

"I understand why you're doing this. Living one's life according to the will of another is something that was embedded in me when I was very young." She glanced at Kuzuryuu, who seemed to freeze and quickly relax, nodding once for her to continue. "You live because of your sister's will, but that is not how anyone should live."

She barked out another laugh. "You! You're hilarious." She brushed stray, matted hair out of her eyes. "You and your corny little friends, you're all hysterical. No wonder Junko-chan wants to brainwash you all into despair."

"Thanks for letting us know your plan," Souda grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets, his sarcasm not lost on her as heat burned in her cheeks.

Pekoyama withdrew her sword, and Ikusaba should have ran. She knew she had every chance to kill the three of them right then and there, but she didn't. Something in Pekoyama's expression willed her to remain. As despair touched her heart and squeezed her lungs, she listened.

"If you want to break free, then I can help you," Pekoyama said, her grip around her sword tight, her free hand offered as an olive branch, "but if you don't, then that's also one way of using your free will."

What did she want in life? She had done nothing but take orders. She lived according to her sister's will. Her only escape was with Fenrir, but not even that despair could salvage her soul. She came crawling back to Enoshima when she called. With a snap of her fingers or a punch to Ikusaba's face, she returned on her hands and knees, head bowed, despairing for her sister's good graces.

But she wasn't a fool. As much as she loved Enoshima, it would never be enough for her. They would never be equals. It was a fact she always understood. She was the Super High School Level Soldier, and executing orders from her superior sister was her talent.

"Ikusaba," Pekoyama started when she glanced at the ground, "do you think your sister will throw you away when you've lost your use?"

She tried convincing herself it was the rain which made her shudder.

"When a tool becomes dull, it's thrown away." She set her hand over Ikusaba's pale palm and squeezed. "You know she will do that to you when the time comes."

How many times did Enoshima try to kill her? She could have counted the ways. Grenades, ice picks, daggers, an old fashioned beatdown, each of them were more gruesome and graphic than the last.

"Don't you want something more for yourself?" Pekoyama asked as footsteps pounded in the puddles. "I can show you how to be free. I know what it's like to be used by others who don't care." She tried to ignore Kuzuryuu tightening his jaw. "You can call my bond with the others hilarious and hysterical all you like. I was able to become my own person because of them."

"Do you have any idea what she's talkin' about?" Souda whispered only for Kuzuryuu to jab his ribs.

"Or maybe…" Pekoyama grinned, a tiny, devious smile which made Ikusaba's heart skip a beat. "...you truly are different from me and would like to get back at her? Show her a little despair? Something she could never expect?"

A despair Enoshima could never expect coming from her older sister? Her pathetic, useless older sister who lived because of her will?

Such a cruel idea made the corners of her lips twitch upwards.

"I'm not on your side," Ikusaba said as she clasped her fingers around Pekoyama's hand, "but if I can give Junko-chan an even greater taste of despair, then I'm in."

"Of course," Pekoyama replied, helping them both stand.

"Uh, can you two clue me in on what's going on?" Souda cried as he whirled around to face Nanami and Komaeda hurrying towards them.

Komaeda took one look at Ikusaba, grinned, and said, "I think Pekoyama-san's hope won out in the end."

"As if," Ikusaba snorted and rolled her eyes, an expression which would have been perfect on Enoshima's face.

But catching Pekoyama's confident, satisfied grin and the way she squeezed her hand, Ikusaba knew she was lying as the tiny flame of hope ignited in the bottom of her black heart.


End file.
